Chapter 1

1

28 years old - Lily

P eople always say that you should trust your gut. It's your body's way of telling you something your mind hasn't caught up to yet. It's your body's way of protecting you against the wrongs in the world, a form of self-protection. Today, the sinking feeling that has been present in my stomach since this afternoon is trying to tell me something. I'm certain of it.

My stomach has been in knots the whole day, but I try to ignore whatever my intuition is trying to scream to me as I dice the carrots for stir-fry night, the repetitive sound of the knife meeting the cutting board somewhat soothing. It's already six o'clock. According to my calculations, he should be home in about an hour. The pan is already hot when I drizzle in the oil and begin to sauté the onions.

"Shit!" I hiss. I suck on the middle finger of my left hand and hurry to the sink, letting the stream of cold water alleviate the burn. I look behind and see Birdie. "Oh, it's okay," I tell the pair of green eyes silently observing me from behind the kitchen door. "I accidentally touched the stove, but I'm ok now. Sorry for the swearing."

Before I can say anything else, I hear keys jingling in the front door, and in a matter of seconds, there is a second pair of eyes studying my hand under the running water. Bryce simply stands there, leaning against the doorframe. "Mommy touched the stove and hurt herself," Birdie says, breaking the silence. "She also said shit."

He looks down at her and they both chuckle. "I see. Mommy should be more careful. She should also watch her potty mouth."

He walks into the kitchen while Birdie returns to the living room to watch the TV show she left on when she came to see what all the fuss was about. He rolls up the sleeves of his white dress shirt and turns the stove back on. Picking up where I've left off, Bryce begins to stir in the vegetables.

"I can finish it," I tell him. "It's fine."

"Don't worry. I got you." He smiles calmly. His smile, it's always so reassuring. There have been a handful of moments in my life where I wasn't sure what I was going to do with myself, but he would comfort me with his smile. And you know what? It always worked. Even on days I thought it wouldn't have.

I give him a quick squeeze on the shoulder, trying to show him my gratitude, and turn to open the door leading to the living room when he speaks. "I had a really weird day at work today."

"Oh yeah?" I drop the door handle and grab a beer and a soda from the fridge instead, handing him the beer and abandoning my plan to join Birdie and watch TV. He takes a sip from his bottle and continues to cook while I lean on the kitchen island behind him.

He looks down at the vegetables now wilted in the pan, his right hand periodically stirring with the wooden spatula. "The tech team was interviewing a guy for our new project. Super important with a high budget, so they wanted to bring him into the office to see if he was a good fit or not."

"Did they need someone from Business Development to interview him as well?" I ask him, not sure where this story is going.

"Not really. It's not really a customer-facing role, so there was no need. But he's American, and they invited me to crash their lunch last minute when they found out that he also came from Elsham Cove. Jakob was interviewing him and he found it funny that this guy was also from there, since he had never heard of Elsham Cove before he met me."

I can feel the pit in my stomach getting deeper. This is it, isn't it, gut feeling? We have met nobody from our hometown since we left ten years ago. "And? Is he any good?"

"The guy is brilliant. He works for the company that created Astrofixo. You know, the game that went viral last year?" Bryce stops stirring and turns off the stove. He takes another swig of his beer before opening the window to let in some fresh air. He plops himself down on the windowsill and looks me straight in the eyes, no reassuring smile on his mouth this time, just a sigh. "He's Nick Johnson."

The nervous smile on my face disappears into thin air at the mention of that name. Nick became a video game developer. I don't keep tabs on him, considering he has me blocked everywhere on social media. Since Bryce and I cut off contact with everyone else after everything went down, we never knew what happened to Nick. Did Nick know that Bryce was working here? Was he just as shocked as Bryce probably was?

I try to stop it, but my mind immediately wanders off to that night. It starts to replay bits and pieces of what happened when I feel Bryce's hand on my back, pulling me closer to him. "Whatever you're thinking, it's fine. Don't think about it just yet." My cheeks are damp with tears, but I say nothing. I don't know what to say because I never thought this would happen. It has been a decade. Bryce is about to say something when I stand and walk toward the living room, yanking the door open. I feel his stare burning my back as I tell Birdie that dinner is done, and she should join us. I need to act normal now, for Birdie's sake.

"Did you tell him anything?" His words come out in a whisper as we hover around the cabinet where the cutlery is stored. I look at my sweet, wonderful child arranging the plates on the table, humming the tune to her favorite song. We have spent nine years raising this beautiful creature and I have enjoyed every second of it. But I always knew that the foundation we have built everything on is a house of cards, glued by the secrets we carried with us from Elsham Cove. It was only a matter of time before the other shoe dropped.

"He doesn't know, Bryce," I tell him, my voice barely a whisper. "You know that he doesn't know about her."

Bryce lets out a long breath and looks down at the floor while combing his blond hair with his hand. "We'll be fine. I'll take care of it."